It was previously believed that the next generation of iPad Pro would be powered by the home-brewed M3 chip but it now looks like the tablets will get a bigger performance upgrade than anyone anticipated.
Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman has revealed in the latest edition of his Power On newsletter that there’s a “strong possibility” that the iPad Pro will be powered by the M4.
The M4 will succeed the M3 chip that was released just five months ago and is said to possess AI processing capabilities.
Gurman today said that the chip will have a new neural engine and its fresh AI capabilities will allow Apple to position the iPad Pro as its first truly AI-powered device.
This is a strategy that many others in the industry have adopted in recent times and Apple clearly doesn’t want to be left behind. Gurman notes that this chip, as well as the A18 that will power the iPhone 16 family, won’t entirely be engineered around AI but Apple will position them as such to make people gravitate towards them. It’s a strategy that seems to be working well for Samsung.
The new iPad Pro will be revealed on May 7 during the “Let Loose” event, where the company will also introduce new accessories, including an Apple Pencil with haptic feedback.
Introducing an AI-focused product before the June Worldwide Developers Conference would make it easier for Apple to discuss its push into AI during WWDC. The company could explain how the M4 chip will benefit from AI features that will be a part of iPadOS 18 which will be released later this year.
The upcoming iPad Pro lineup is also expected to feature an OLED display.
If the rumor about the iPad Pro getting the M4 chip is legit, Apple’s new tablet will demolish the competition. M3 chip-powered devices already benchmark a lot higher than top Android tablets, so you can only imaging how much faster the new iPad Pro is going to be.